In a candid and deeply personal segment of her interview with Andro Mammo, Saraya discussed the emotional rollercoaster of her return to professional wrestling after a career-threatening neck injury kept her out of the ring for years. She also bravely shared the significant challenges she faced with online criticism and the profound impact her father’s wisdom had on her life, even preventing a potential tragedy.
Saraya described her initial feelings upon her return: “It was a weird feeling. Honestly, I was so excited to be able to wrestle again, and I couldn’t believe I was ever going to wrestle again, so it was a miracle.” However, this initial joy was quickly overshadowed by the harsh realities of online fan reaction. “Then the week after I did a promo, which wasn’t very good, and I know it wasn’t, I just got in my head. I got a lot of nerves and stuff like that, and had a lot of anxiety and I didn’t do a good job, and then they completely tore me apart online. Tore me apart. It made me think I made a mistake coming back, and I was like, what have I done?”
When asked if this online backlash made her second-guess her return, Saraya gave a starkly honest answer: “Yes, 100%.” The negativity clearly had a significant impact on her mental state.
Saraya then detailed how she managed to overcome this wave of criticism. “Time, and deleting social media, getting reps in and stuff like that because I did not want to listen to what they were saying, because they can be cruel. The AEW fans especially, wow, and anyone that comes over there, holy crap. It’s crazy. So I was having a rough time just dealing with that, but after a while, I just learned to just delete it off my phone. If I did do something, I would not look at social media for a couple of days until something else happened. It was rough. It kind of dimmed my spark, and then after a while, I just started having fun and not caring what people think. You know, even if they didn’t like the Saraya gimmick over there or didn’t like what I was doing, or they didn’t like how I was booked or whatever, like, I didn’t care. I was having fun.”
In a particularly moving part of the interview, Saraya shared a deeply personal story about how her father, former wrestler Ricky Knight, intervened during a moment of intense personal crisis. “My dad is a tough guy, but he stopped me from killing myself. I’m telling this story because he taught me a lot in that moment, you know, to not take anything too serious.” Saraya recounted a time when a personal scandal led her to a point of extreme distress. “Anyway, I was in Texas. I was just sitting there. I was this close. I was like, I’m so mortified, I’m so embarrassed, I’m so humiliated, like, this is the last straw, you know, because in that year and a half I was going through a lot. I was like, this is the last straw. I cannot do this anymore. I can’t do my life anymore, like, I don’t want to be around.”
In her despair, Saraya’s primary concern was disappointing her father. “I said to myself, Okay, if my dad or my family, but mostly my dad, if he’s disappointed in me, that’s it. I’m done.” Her family’s persistent efforts to reach her eventually broke through. “So they would call me and call me and call me, and eventually I opened the phone and I was like, I’m so sorry. I was just crying. I’m sobbing. I’m just like, ‘I’m so sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry.'”
Her father’s response was filled with compassion and a touch of humor. “He goes, ‘Princess, everything’s gonna be okay. It’s just sex, and everybody does it. It’s just you’re in the spotlight so it just feels like a lot right now. You’re doing what every other human has been doing with their lives. Don’t feel shame. I love you. I’m proud of you’, and he had some humor in it. He said, ‘Who knows? Maybe you might get more famous like Kim Kardashian.’ I said, ‘How the f*ck do you know Kim Kardashian?'”
Saraya emphasized the profound impact of her father’s words. “In that moment, he taught me not to take it too seriously and not everything is as big as, because I’ll overthink stuff, and I’ll make it a big deal when it doesn’t need to be so. He said, once, and I use this all the time now, ‘If you can change it, why are you stressing? If you can’t change it, why are you stressing?’ So that’s really helped me in my career.”
Finally, Saraya discussed the message behind her book, “Hell in Boots,” and her current outlook on life. “I’m happy with where my life is. I’m happy with who I am. I’m comfortable with who I am. It took me a long time to figure that out, and I thought years ago I was really happy, but I’m like, wow, I’ve never experienced true happiness until this very moment. I just want people to know that you can go through all those horrific things and still become the happiest you’ve ever been in your life.”
Saraya also highlighted her commitment to using her platform for positive change. “It’s my duty to use my platform, the platform that I’ve built that took so long to build, to help people. I’m gonna use my platform to do good. I’m now on the board of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. I’m very proud of that. I like to do speaking engagements. I do have a book talk book tour coming up, so if you guys do want to talk to me about these stories or whatever, I love it. Please, spend as much time as you want talking to me. I love it. I want to help.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit One-on-One with Andro Mammo with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
